


Palm Top Pidge and Lancey Pants

by Beatles_and_Bellarke



Category: Toradora!, Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, toradora AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-11-27
Packaged: 2019-05-25 08:24:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 3,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14973113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beatles_and_Bellarke/pseuds/Beatles_and_Bellarke
Summary: Lance McClain appears scary but is truly a gentle giant. Katie Holt is a condensed ball of rage. what happens when they have to work together and set each other up with their best friends?





	1. The Meeting

**Author's Note:**

> So I love Toradora and I love Voltron so I have finally written a Toradora!AU and couldn't be more excited!! 
> 
> So enjoy this!!

Lance McClain knew he looked scary. He wandered the halls of his school and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as he could to not draw attention to his natural glare.  The two people in his class who didn’t mind him were his best friends, Hunk and Keith. The two other boys were in the same homeroom as he was.

 

“How was your summer?” They all went around in their group and talked about what happened on vacation between Keith’s older brother Shiro going to boot camp and Lance’s mother and siblings finally getting a home of their own after years of moving around. 

 

Across the campus, two girls came up the steps laughing about similar antics over the summer. Katie Holt or as she is affectionately referred to in school “Palm Top Pidge” (due to her small stature and raging temper) was amicably chattering poor Allura Altea’s ear off. Allura nodded and smiled as best she could. 

 

Pidge’s happy chatter was rare and she wanted to be a good friend but even so Allura felt a bit unsure how to respond to some of the events that transpired in the Holt family. 

 

They parted ways outside of Allura’s homeroom. Pidge went on to her homeroom, not looking where she was going. Aside from Allura, Pidge didn’t have friends. She tended to push others away from her. 

 

_ BAM!  _ She ran smack into a solid object. Well, sort of solid. It wasn’t quite. She could tell it was a person though. She looked up to see who she had to shove out of the way and was face to face with the dude everyone avoids in school. Pidge knew his name was Lance and had heard rumors that he had a resting icy glare but she didn’t see anything too intimidating about him. 

 

Lance in turn found everything intimidating about the glare this pint sized girl was throwing him. It sent chills down his spine and he vowed to stay as far away from her as was physically possible. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Homeroom passed without much incident. Lance and Pidge were in the same one and they barely made eye contact. Lance talked with Keith and Hunk mostly.  They all sat in a small group just as before. The rest of the day follows much like the morning. 

 

Lance was packing for the last class of the day when he spotted Pidge put something in his backpack and quickly leave the room. Curious, Lance went to his backpack to see what it was this girl he barely knew (and frankly was afraid of) had put in his bag so sneakily. 

 

He thought better of looking at it here and headed home. Once he arrived back in his apartment he took a closer look at the envelope. He flipped it over to read the name. It was really for Keith. And much to Lance’s surprise: the envelope was empty...But that couldn’t be right. If it was an empty envelope why would she enter the room like that? Unless…

 

No sooner had he conjured other possibilities then the window in his bedroom slid open with a bang. Shrouded in darkness, a small figure stood on the sill.  A dark aura eminated from it. “Palm Top” Pidge screamed, a blood curdling sound as she threw herself on Lance with a baseball bat clutched in her angry fists. 

 

“WAIT!!” Lance yelled, ducking to avoid being shwacked by the bat. He preferred to stay unbruised although he conceded that for one reason or another he definitely deserved it. “Is this what you’re so upset about??”  He held the envelope high over his head, causing her to begin climbing him in desperation. 

 

“WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THE LETTER??” She yelled, clawing him frantically. “I HAD A LETTER IN THIS. WHERE IS IT??”

 

“The envelope is empty. You must have been so nervous you forgot to actually put the letter in it.” Lance said completely calm, outwardly. His heart wouldn’t stop pounding and he was ready to ignite his flight instincts. This girl was utterly  _ terrifying.  _

 

Something in Pidge deflated. She sat down, with a sullen expression. Her embarrassment was a blinding red light and Lance felt sorry for her immediately.

 

“Hey, its okay. We all make that rookie mistake. Especially when we have a crush.” He smirked at the disgruntled noises she made. “So this was really for Keith, huh? What do you see in that mullet head?” Pidge stuck her nose in the air and refused to answer. “Alright, I’ll cut you a deal. You help me get with Allura and I’ll set you up with Keith.” 

 

This sparked her interest. 

 

“You like Allura?” He turned to her, surprised that she didn’t know this.

 

“I mean I’m not exactly subtle. But yeah I do.” He brought down mix tapes and letters he wrote as well to her. “You’re braver than me because you actually tried to give Keith your letter. I haven’t come close with mine.” He grinned at that. Pidge thought he had a nice smile despite what the rest of the school thought of this boy. 

 

“Okay, deal. I’ll set you up with my best friend and you help me with yours.”

 

“Deal.” They shook on it. And thus began the friendship of two opposite equals. 


	2. The Plan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A plan goes Awry for Lance and Pidge as rumors of their shared time together spread.

Lance was awoken the next morning by a rapping on his window. He turned over and put his pillow over his head. When the noise wouldn’t stop, Lance took his cue.

 

He looked around bleary-eyed and found Pidge sitting at the window of his apartment, which just his luck was the one right across from hers.

 

The sight of her at his window was such a surprise that he fell out of bed and hit his head on the floor.

 

“What are _YOU_ doing here?” He stormed to the window and opened it. She wasn’t expecting it and fell face first into the bedroom.

 

“I can’t cook to save my life so I was hoping I could uhh... eat with you. Besides you did say you’d do ANYTHING for me so I could put in a good word for you with Allura.” She grunted, pulling herself up off his floor.

 

That was the part left out of the initial agreement. Lance said to her that he’d do anything she wanted so of course sly businesswoman Katie Holt made him her personal servant.

 

“Well-I uhh... was about to go down and put something together if you’d like to join me.” She smiled and nodded.

 

“Good morning Mom! The kids still asleep?” Lance began bustling around the small kitchen as his mother rose from her bed on their couch. The woman looked terrible. She had huge bags and acted oddly. Pidge recognized an overworked, alcoholic mother when she saw one.

 

“Yeah, Lance. they are.” His mother seemed to just notice Pidge and beamed. “Who is this??”

 

“Katie Holt. She lives across the way.”

 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am!” Pidge put on her best grin and stuck out her hand for his mom to shake.

 

“We have to get ready for school now mom. So let us make breakfast and then we’ll be on our way.”

 

Lance’s secret passion is cooking. Hunk is the food connesiour in the group so Lance doesn’t love talking about it much but Pidge was impressed by his presentation of even something simple like bacon and pancakes. She ate it all and was ready to go.

 

They walked on to school and were stopped by Allura.

 

“Oh! hey McClain! Hey, Pidge!!” Allura’s face brightened. Slowly though her expression turned confused. “I didn’t know you two knew each other!”

 

“We don’t! We...uhh. We met each other by coincidence and got talking a little bit. He made me breakfast this morning.” But that explanation didn’t seem to satisfy Allura. She still studied Pidge carefully. Her eyes grew wide.

 

“Wait...are you two DATING?” This made the two splutter and shake their heads.

 

“Me??? With him??? No. Absolutely not. Allura, how could you even think that? I have STANDARDS.” Lance shot Pidge a dark glare at that last part, which she strategically ignored.

 

“What she MEANS to say is no we’re not dating. We’ve barely met although we have gone to school with each other awhile.” Lance said.

 

Allura laughed. It was a beautiful sound to Lance’s ears and he found himself blushing a bit but quickly tried to hide it.

 

“Deniiiiial.” Allura’s singsong voice echoed in the alleyway on the way to school.

 

This thought immediately lead Lance to the conclusion that he needed to get Keith and Pidge together ASAP because otherwise Allura would never give him a chance.

 

Their first plan took place during the sophomore gym class. They both pair up together so that they can knock Keith’s partner out and have Lance rush him to the nurse’s office (Lance of course was under the impression that Hunk would be Keith’s partner which was not ideal but better than a complete stranger).

 

This would force Pidge to partner with Keith. Much to both of their surprise and dismay, keith was paired with Nyma, one of the prettiest girls in their grade.

 

Pidge stopped dead in her tracks as Lance let the ball go. Everything stopped. Well everything that is...except the ball which was hurtling faster than anticipated, straight into Pidge’s face. She was fairly unharmed except for perhaps the big black eye and the headache. Lance bolted to her side, apologizing. She insisted she was fine until she tried to stand and promptly vomited on the floor. He took her to the infirmary and she went home that day.

 

Weeks went by and Pidge made a pretty much full recovery. She was still on sports ban but she was able to return to school. While at home Pidge baked cookies for Keith as a way to express her affections.

 

The day she came back she found him on his way to his next class, clearly rushing down the stairs. She chased him but slipped and as she was falling strong arms caught her to keep her steady. But her cookies went out the window anyway.

 

“I’m a failure, aren’t I?” Lance felt sorry for this poor girl. She was trying everything possible and fate seemed out to get her.

 

“No! And these cookies look wonderful!” He said picking one up off the floor and dusting it off before eating it. “And they taste even better!” She offered a small smile but went right back to sulking.

 

Lance didn’t like all the new staring he and Pidge were receiving. There were whispers in the halls and discreet glances in their direction. It made him uncomfortable.

 

One day a random girl came up and asked the question that seemed to be on everyone’s minds.

 

“You two seem to be spending a lot of time together...are you an item?” The two of them try to deny it but the rumors were spreading faster than either could have anticipated and it reaches Allura who comes storming over one day to the lunch table.

 

“You two. Over here. Now.” She commands them. Both Lance and Pidge shoot each other confused looks as they follow her out of the lunch room.

 

“Allura, I-“

 

“Take care of Pidge, okay? I love her with my whole heart and I don’t want someone she’s dating to break hers. So do me a favor and love her unconditionally and care for her properly. Alright?” Pidge realized what was going on a split second before Lance did.

 

“FOR THE LAS-“ but she stops herself. She stares, frozen. There on the same rooftop, is Keith. Momentarily Pidge forgot that Lance was his best friend so of course Allura would bring him up with her. She rubbed her eyes and then realizing what was happening around her, she resigned.

 

“I’m so happy for you guys!” He said, completely misunderstanding Pidge and Lance’s intentions. “But I second Allura! You guys take care of each other!!”

 

Keith and Allura leave to go back into lunch. Pidge turns to Lance with tears in her eyes.

 

“I’m so sorry, Lance. I’m the one responsible. If I hadn’t been so dumb and tried getting you involved I would have been able to talk to Keith on my own. I’ve been living alone this entire time after running away from home. The only one of my family who seems to care about me is my big brother Matt. But he’s off in the army so I have no one.” She kicks the utility pole next to them in frustration. A kick beside her surprises her enough to throw her off guard a bit.

 

Lance looked down at her, a determined expression evident on his features. Their kicking was fast and hard, tipping the pole just a little. The catharsis that came from kicking the pole made it worth the small bit of vandalism required.

 

“Come on, lets go back to my house and I’ll make you some dinner.”

 

“No. Tomorrow I will confess my feelings to Keith and then you and I will just be neighbors! We’ll put this whole thing behind us! You won’t have to see me or do anything for me anymore.” And with that she bid him farewell and went inside her home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m really invested in this story so I will try to keep it as up to date as I can!!


	3. The Confession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge finally decided to tell Keith how she felt but with the rumors still swirling about her and Lance the message is lost in translation.

Lance refused to admit it to his friends but he had fallen into a habit of having breakfast ready for Pidge when she came over. This had been going on for months now and he looked forward to it every morning. She really was a fun person if only she’d let others see that. 

 

The poor girl’s mother and father were low lifes who favored Matt over her and pretty much abandoned her after he left. So she had to leave and has since lived alone, guarding her heart.  But she has become someone completely different around Lance and he enjoys every second of it. 

 

So needless to say, Lance was disappointed when he woke to no tapping on the window or sign of Pidge at breakfast. He went about getting ready and headed out the door with little to no word toward his mother who was lounging on the sofa. Keith and Hunk caught up with him on the path to school. They noticed his more sulky demeanor. 

 

“Palm top didn’t show?” Keith guessed. Lance nodded. “That seems odd. You guys have seemed so tight recently. The whole school firmly believes that you were dating for a time.” Lance merely shrugged and kept walking in silence. 

 

Keith was getting frustrated and Hunk saw it before Lance did. He motioned for Keith to cool it before turning to Lance and changing the subject.

 

“Big bio test today, right? Did you study?” 

 

“Of course I did. I had to cram a bit but I definitely will be doing better than a lot of others today I should think. I gotta go though. Can’t be late.” Lance grinned a little sadly before walking ahead. The other two let him go. 

 

“He’s got it bad.” Hunk observed. 

 

“I’ll say.” Keith nodded and they headed into school behind Lance. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Pidge spotted Lance in the crowd and was surprised by the pounding of her heart. She batted it down quickly and straight up vowed to ignore him. She didn’t need him anymore. Pidge was her own woman and she could talk to Keith by herself. 

 

Lance approached her and Pidge turned around so she didn’t meet his eyes. She walked in the class and banged the desk loudly attracting a lot of attention. 

 

“Keith Kogane I need to talk to you!!” Keith clearly wasn’t expecting such a declaration but he followed her outside. Lance also quietly listened to their conversation from the stairs nearby. 

 

“Look. I know I should have told you this earlier and I feel  I am sort of in…” But Keith stopped her. 

 

“Wait a second. Aren’t you and Lance dating?” This caused Pidge to blush against her better judgment and she tried her hardest to beat it back. 

 

“We’re not… I mean…I don’t like him...not like that anyway.  I also don’t hate him either. I mean. He fed me when I had nothing else to eat and he takes care of me. It’s because of his constant encouragement that I can speak to you now. He really is trying to help me. I like  _ you  _ not him. That’s what I’m trying to-” Keith put out his hand to stop her. 

 

“I get it. The way you talk about him is amazing, Katie. You clearly do care about him. And I’m glad you want to be friends.” This stunned her. 

 

“I said I liked you and you...heard ‘friend’?” She watched, heartbroken as Keith walked away waving. 

 

“That was really sweet, Pigeon.” She whirled around at the all-too familiar voice. 

 

“WHAT DO YOU WANT?” She put up her fists ready to do battle. 

 

“I  _ wanted _ to make sure you’re okay. I saw the whole scene. You held yourself together really well.” Lance complimented her. Pidge put her fists down.  “So now that your confession has been heard...what is next? How about I make you some dinner? You can stop by my place.” 

 

“I’m going home.” Pidge turned on her heel. “I don’t need your help anymore.”

 

“Pidge.” She froze. He had used Allura and Matt’s name for her. She hadn’t heard him refer to her so directly before. “Look. I know you’re upset. But I promise I won’t leave you out here alone. Come over and let me make you some dinner. I don’t mind. My mom isn’t home for awhile so itll just be me and the kids in the house. We can plan our next attack.” He flashed her a bright smile. 

 

“Alright. If you’re going to help me though, you are still going to have to do everything I say.” She mischeviously punching him a little too hard in the arm for his liking. They headed for Lance’s house. Pidge thought to herself that it was comforting to hear someone else calling her by her nickname that wasn’t just her best friend and her brother. Rare but nice. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 is finally up!! I am actually impressed how often I have been able to update!! Hope you all enjoy it!! 
> 
> As Always, comments aren't obviously required but I would love to hear from you, my loyal readers!!


	4. Jealous Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge and Lance are still trying to set each other up but something is happening with Pidge making her slightly more sensitive.

The next morning, Pidge and Lance passed the field near Lance’s house. Allura was playing softball. Pidge kept walking but noticed she had lost Lance at the fence. He stood mesmorized by the sight. Pidge took one glance at the look on his face and pokes him between the eyes. This of course causes him to bring his attention back to her.

 

“OW. What was that for??”

 

“Stop staring! We gotta go! You can catch up with her later!” Lance sighs and follows her.

 

“Hey Lance!!” Allura smiles at him and it sends a shiver down his spine. She has the most radiant smile. His immediate thought is loud and clear.

 

“Hey yourself! What are you doing?” He noticed she was busy doing some crafts.

 

“I make my own cell phone covers. I can make one for you.” Allura showed him her latest.

 

“I’d love one!” He happily agreed.

 

*******************************************************

 

“And she has the most beautiful smile and amazing talents. Meanwhile I’m just a fish flopping around trying to find my way. I can’t even do math right and I suck at writing. The only decent thing I can do is cooking and Allura’s been on her own for years…” Katie was tired of hearing Lance talking so much about Allura that she took matters into her own hands. She kicked him in the stomach to get him to focus on her instead.

 

“I’m hungry.” She stated simply.

 

“Alright I’ll get you something to eat. Hang on.”

 

He went into the kitchen to make her some rice and beans. But then he realized the rice cooker was broken.

 

“Well we’re going to have to buy ourselves a new one…” Pidge suggested the restaurant where Allura worked. So they set off to find a new rice cooker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry this chapter took so long to put up!! I’ve been wanting to pick this one up again but I hit a bad case of writer’s block... but I’m back!! Hopefully both chapters 4 & 5 will be up and running in the next few days!! 
> 
> As always thank you for reading and comments are appreciated!!!


	5. The Predicament

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group splinters off into two groups. Keith runs into Pidge doing errands outside and Lance and Allura get some time...on their own.

Allura had been raised to be a hard worker. Her father Alfor came from a rather rich family but he impressed on her the importance of valuing the hard work of others. As such, Allura went out of her way to apply to as many jobs as she could. She balanced a variety in one sitting. Lance and Pidge found her in most of the stores downtown. 

 

The liquor store was rather small and it was just Allura and the owner, Coran an old family acquaintence of hers. 

 

“Hi guys!” Allura grinned, catching Pidge’s eyes with a wink. 

 

“Hey Allura!” 

 

Coran took that moment to come outside. He was so excited to see some helpful new faces. 

 

“You there! Tiny girl! What’s your name??”

 

“Katie Holt but my friends call me Pidge.” 

 

“Would you mind running an errand for me?? We could really use the extra hands.” Pidge didn’t love the idea of leaving Lance behind but she knew it was a great time for him and Allura to have that much needed alone time. So she agreed.

 

Waiting outside was her biggest enemy: the bicycle. Pidge never learned how to ride one. It was too scary for her at the time her brother was learning and then she just never wanted to. She waited until the manager had gone back into the store before she took the bike and walked it all the way across town. 

 

On the way back to the store, Pidge ran into none other than Keith. Handsome, charismatic,  _ friendzoning _ Keith.  

 

“Hey, Katie! Uhhh...Why are you walking a bike? You don’t know how to ride one, correct? So what are you doing?” 

 

This jolted something inside Pidge and she hopped on the bike with a new vigor. She of course knew nothing about how bicycles worked so while she put in her best effort she fell...repeatedly. But she was determined to figure out how to ride it all the way back to the shop. 

 

Subsequently, she made it to the store with scrapes all over her arms and legs. She pulled up at the door and peeked arount. 

 

“Where are my friends?” She asked Coran, evenly. 

 

“I don’t know! They left a little bit ago. Went that way I think.”

 

“Thank you.” Her answer was short and to the point.  

 

************************************************************************************************************

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on point of view) for Lance and Allura they ended up spending lots of quality time together. While looking for some new wine in the cellar, the two were stuck there. They discovered they had locked themselves in. Allura was so nervous. Her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. 

 

“I’m sorry for this.” She said a little breathlessly.

 

“Don’t apologize! It was a mistake on both our parts.” Lance assured her, squeezing her shoulders. She smiled, nodding. 

 

“It happens. I just didn’t expect the ground to get away from me so quickly. One minute I was up and the next I was down and you came to help me.”  Lance’s words came out in a rush. “And Allura. I have something to admit to you….” She stops him before he could embarrass himself further.

 

“Lance! Look there’s a window!” They both breathe a sigh of relief. Lance stands up to see out the window and catches sight of Pidge glaring right at him from outside the dampness, running full throttle towards the cellar. 

 

“Look out!” He yelled.  Lance jumped in front of Allura to shield her as Pidge came crashing through the window. 

 

Now they were all three trapped down here with nothing. No plans to get them out, no schemes for the day. 

  
“Oh this is  _ juuuuuust _ great.” Pidge sighed, resigned to this fate.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Sorry for taking this long to update!! I'll be writing this intermittedly but it will be done!


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